Box end



P W R T E BOX END Filed April 20, 1935 INVENTOR, T

Elk Wad]; riff, BY

ATTORNEY.

Patented May 3, 1938 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE BOX END Elwood IiTripp; Seattle, Wash, assignor to I. F. Laucks, Inc., Seattle, Wash, a corporation of Washington Application April 20, 1935, Serial No. 17,377

2 Claims. (01. 217-17) This invention relates to box ends and the like end or the like, or of a box or other article emand to methods of forming the same. bodying the same a relatively difficult matter.

Anobject of the invention is the provision of With the foregoing and other considerations a composite box end or like article which is sturin view, the invention contemplates the provi- 5 dily constructed and inexpensive to manufacture sion of a simple and sturdy box end or the like in A more specific object is the provision of a box which the parts are held together with particular 5 end of the character under consideration which effectiveness and without the use of clips or like may be handled with particular ease. connecting means, and in its more specific as- Another object is the provision of an improved pects contemplates the provision of uniting method for the formation of box ends and the means which facilitates the handling of a boxlike. end of a box including the same.

Other objects of the invention will in part be In accordance With the invention, a plurality obvious and will in part appear hereinafter. of pieces of wood are disposed one against the The invention accordingly comprises the sevother, ordinarily without gluing, and a continu- 5 eral steps and the relation and order of one or ous groove, preferably a plurality of grooves, ex-

more of such steps with respect to each of the tending from one piece to another, is formed others, and the article possessing the features, along a side face of the assembly. In each groove properties, and the relation of elements, which there is disposed uniting means, ordinarily in the are exemplified in the following detailed disform of a wooden spline which is secured in the closure, and the scope of the application of which groove. Desirably, the spline is secured both by m will be indicated in the claims. gluing and by a tight fit. A construction of this 20 For a fuller understanding-of the nature and sort provides a sturdy and highly satisfactory objects of the invention reference should be had box-end which can be formed With extreme ease tofthe following: detaileddescription taken in from pieces of lumber which are otherwise not connection with the accompanying drawing, in readily utilizable. If the pieces are thick, as is which: ordinarily the case, the assembly is grooved on the Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment opposite side faces, splines glued therein, and the of the invention in the form of a blank from which assembly sawed thru the middle so as to provide a box endsmay be formed; pair of box-ends. Preferably a plurality of 2 is an end View of a box end formed grooves, ordinarily two, are provided in each surtherefrom; face. Desirably, the splines will extend outward- Fig. 3 isa top view of the construction ready 1y beyond the faces of the pieces so as to provide for the reception of the splines; handle-portions whereby the box-ends or boxes Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view illusformed thereof may be handled.

trating a modification; i It will be appreciated that while the invention Fig, 5 is a similar view illustrating a further is designed primarily for the formation of boxmodification; and ends, it is adapted for the formation of other Fig.6isasimilar-view showinganothermodified parts of boxes and for a wide variety of conform. structions wherein a secure but relatively rough While assemblies of a variety of different types union'of one or more pieces of wood to provide have been proposed for use as ends for orange a generally sheet-like member or other construcboxes and uses of similar nature, and while it is tion which is elongated in one direction or anwell recognized that such constructions offer an other is desired.

excellent field for the utilization of otherwise In Fig. 1, there is exemplified a blank embodywaste pieces of lumber; no construction which ing the invention and adapted for the provision 45% is entirely satisfactory from the standpoints of of box ends. As will be seen, this comprises strength, ease of formation and effectiveness for wooden pieces Ill, H, I2, l3 and M which may be the purposes intended is available. Uniting formed of any readily available lumber and may means such as end members, metal clips, etc., be of varying sizes in one direction. These are have been utilized, but these are subject to varlaid so that one edge of each contacts an edge of 50 ions drawbacks, including lack of effectiveness, an adjacent piece and are formed with continlack of sturdiness in the construction, or diffiuous grooves l5 and It in one of the wide faces culties in formation. Furthermore, the ordinary of the assembly and continuous grooves l1 and constructions of this type are formed with a 18 in the opposite face. In each groove there is smooth surface which makes handling of the boxglued a wooden spline l9 so as to securely unite 55 the pieces. Preferably, the spline is of such size that it will have a good tight fit in the groove. This construction in itself unites the members, and when utilized in conjunction with glue provides good mechanical strength even before the glue has set, and accordingly a blank can be sawed into box-ends, or a blank, box-end, or other article handled, immediately after assembly. In order to provide grip portions beyond the wide surface of the pieces, each spline extends externally of the groove as indicated at 20. The splines l 9 as exemplified project out of the groove thruout their length, but by an amount less than one half the depth of the spline, however, so as to provide an especially compact and advantageous assembly. The externally extending portions 20 serve not only' to facilitate handling, but have the additional advantage that they protect a. label placed on the portion of the surface between them.

In the formation of this blank, the pieces llll 4 are disposed side by side and the grooves I5-l8 are cut out therefrom, preferably after they have been assembled. Desirably, the corners of the grooves are rounded as indicated at 2| to facilitate the entry of the splines. Thereupon glue is provided within the grooves, although in certain instances-it may be provided instead or in addition upon the inner surface of the splines. The splines are then pressed securely into the grooves. Thereupon box-ends such as shown in Fig. 2 may be readily provided by re-sawing the blank on the plane indicated by the dot-and-dash line in Fig. 1. As will be apparent, box-ends or other articles may be provided without sawing in instances Where a thicker article is desired or where thinner stock is used. Ordinarily in such a case the assembly will be grooved only on one of its side faces. Preferably, two parallel splines are provided on the same side of the article to assure that the pieces will be held firmly together, but

the invention in its broader aspect contemplates the provision of one, three or any other desired number of splines or other reinforcing means. Again, while the grooves and splines generally extend into each of the pieces of which the assembly is formed, the splines uniting various pairs of pieces may be staggered or otherwise arranged in certain instances. Furthermore the shape and character of the grooves and of the uniting means may be varied as desired.

In order to provide a particularly sturdy construction, the splines or other reinforcing means may extend laterally as well as externally of the grooves. When they are so extended to an edge of the article, they serve also to reinforce this edge. A construction of this character is shown in Fig. 4. This construction is generally similar to that of Fig. l, the corresponding parts being distinguished by the subscript a. The splines l 9a have a portion 22 extending externally of the grooves in which the splines are set and extending also laterally of the grooves to the corner of the article as indicated at 23. This not only forms a particularly strong construction, but also a construction which is reinforced at its corners.

As will be apparent, glue may be applied between the portions 23 and the pieces Illa and Ila, if desired. When glue is so applied, tendencies of the lateral portion of the splines to split are minimized, and even when splitting does occur, the lateral portion will be held in place.

In Fig. 5, there is shown a similar construction wherein the parts are generally similar, being distinguished by the subscript b. The splines I91) are formed with external portions 24 extending laterally to a corner of the article as indicated at 25 and also extending in the opposite direction as indicated at 26 to provide a T- shaped construction.

It will be understood that while the provision of external portions on the splines is a desirable feature of the invention for many purposes, there will be instances in which a smooth surfaced article is desirable. In such cases there may be utilized a construction such as shown in Fig. 6 wherein the parts are generally similar to those shown in Fig. 1, but are distinguished by the subscript c. In this instance, the splines are of the same size as the groove, and fit entirely within the same so that they have no external portion.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a. box-end or similar article which has a maximum of structural strength consistent with economy and simplicity, and having various advantageous features, and that it also provides an exceedingly simple and efficient method for forming fiat articles adapted for use as box-ends and other purposes.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above method, and certain modifications in the article which embody the invention may be made without departing from its scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention claimed is:

1. A preformed box-end or the like comprising a plurality of pieces of Wood disposed side by side so as to present an exposed surface, a groove in said surface extending'transversely of the pieces, and a wooden uniting member in said groove and having a portion extending externally of said groove so that it projects beyond said surface and including a projection extending laterally to the edge of the article so as to provide a corner therefor, the lateral portion being glued to the face of the assembly.

2. A preformed box-end or the like comprising a plurality of pieces of wood disposed side by side so as to present an exposed surface, a groove in said surface extending transversely of the pieces, and .a wooden uniting member in said groove and having a portion extending externally of said groove so that it projects beyond said surface and including a projection extending laterally to the edge of the article so as to provide a corner therefor.

ELWOOD I. TRIPP. 

